The Ultimate Guide to Beeswax Wraps (+8 ways to use them!)

 This post first appeared in our weekly Make Waves Mondays email series on August 12, 2024.

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Hello again, friend! 🌞

It’s been a minute since we’ve done a zero waste swap deep dive, so I’m really excited today to talk all things reusable beeswax wraps — including a cost breakdown compared to plastic saran wrap and Ziploc baggies, and 8 different ways to use them!

So let’s just dive right on in, shall we? 👇

What are beeswax wraps?

Beeswax wraps are a reusable, 100% plastic-free alternative to plastic saran wrap. They’re made of a piece of organic cotton fabric coated in beeswax, tree resin, and coconut and jojoba oils to keep them pliable. The beeswax and tree resin work together to create a seal either on itself or on another surface to keep your foods fresh, just as plastic wrap would.

How do you use a beeswax wrap?

In short, you use a beeswax wrap just like you’d use saran wrap — wrap something up with it!

But first, to get the wrap “sticky,” you wanna scrunch it between your hands a little bit to warm up the wax before you use it. (This is the pro-tip most people miss their first few times using beeswax wraps!)

Then, you just wrap the wrap around or onto itself (like around a sliced apple), or around the edge of another surface (like a plate or mixing bowl). Keep using the heat of your hands to warm up the beeswax and mold the wrap to the shape you need it. The wax will create a seal, just like plastic wrap does.

Do beeswax wraps actually keep food fresh?

Oh my gosh, yes! Lemme tell you a story…

Very early on in my zero waste days (circa 2018), I had just purchased a set of beeswax wraps, but hadn’t used them yet. 

For dinner one night, I roasted up a whole chicken, and wanted to save the bones to make chicken broth. I didn’t feel like making the broth that night, but I also didn’t have a Pyrex container large enough to store the bones until I was ready to make the broth. So I popped the bones into a large metal mixing bowl (that one right there 👆) and covered the top with a beeswax wrap and put it in my fridge.

And then I forgot about that bowl for a full WEEK.

When I realized I’d forgotten about it, I tentatively took the bowl out of the fridge and braced myself for the smelly smells that I was sure were about to smack me across the face when I removed the beeswax wrap.

But the smelly smells never came.

Seriously, friend. Those chicken bones still smelled as fresh as when I put them in the fridge. Not even a hint of foulness. 

So I cooked up the broth, whipped up some soup…and it. was. delicious. 

I’ve been totally sold on beeswax wraps ever since.

8+ Ways to Use Beeswax Wraps

So I’ve already mentioned that beeswax wraps are great for covering a bowl or wrapping a sliced apple, but there are so many other ways to use them around and outside of the house!

1. Keep half an avocado/lemon/apple/onion fresh. Just wrap the beeswax wrap around the produce you’ve cut into and stick it to itself.
   
   
2. Wrap soap and shampoo bars while traveling. Bar soaps are the MVP of travel, but if you don’t have a way to store them, they can get a little messy to transport if they’re wet. (I’ve tried wrapping them in a washcloth, but then the washcloth gets messy, and depending on how long you’re traveling, that can get unpleasant quickly.) Because they’re waterproof, beeswax wraps are a great way to wrap up bars of soap on the go!
   
   
3. Cover a bowl, mason jar, or plate of leftovers. Just like my chicken bones, a beeswax wrap over a bowl, jar, or plate will keep your leftovers fresh!
   
   
4. Pack a sandwich. Beeswax wraps don’t just replace saran wrap… Ditch Ziploc sandwich bags and wrap up your sandwiches in beeswax wraps instead! Our 10x10” beeswax wraps are perfect for this - just lay your sandwich on the middle of the wrap, pull the top and bottom of the wrap to the middle, and then do the same with the sides. Remember to warm up the wrap in your hands first for best results with this one!
   
   
5. Fold into a snack pouch. Like I said in #4, beeswax wraps can also be a great alternative to plastic Ziploc baggies. Warm the wrap up in your hands to get the “stickiness” going, and then fold the edges over on themselves a couple of times to create a little resealable snack pouch!
   
   
6. Wrap a block of cheese. This is probably one of the most common ways to use a beeswax wrap! Next time you’ve got an open block of cheese to put back in the fridge, wrap it up with a beeswax wrap! The square-ness of the cheese block makes it suuuuper easy to do.
   
   
7. Open a stuck jar lid. Got a pickle jar you just can’t get the lid off of? Place a beeswax wrap on the lid to get a little extra stickiness and twist it open!
   
   
8. Fold into an on-the-go dog bowl. Hiking with your pup? Toss a large beeswax wrap in your bag, then fold it into a bowl shape, twist the corners to give it some stability, and pour in some water for your parched pup. When you’re ready to get back to the trail, just fold it up again and toss it back in your bag.

Check out this short video from our beeswax wraps maker, Meli Wraps, to see some of their favorite ways to use beeswax wraps!

How do you clean beeswax wraps?

The most important thing to remember when you’re cleaning your beeswax wraps is to not use hot water or anything abrasive, since the heat can melt the wax and anything scrubby will scrape off the wax.

So to clean your beeswax wraps, all ya gotta do is wipe them down with a damp cloth under cool water (I always use a Swedish dishcloth for this!) with a little bit of mild dish soap, then air dry. Because they’re waterproof, they should come clean really easily this way!

Check out this short video to see behind-the-scenes how I clean my beeswax wraps!

How long do beeswax wraps last?

The exact answer to this question will depend on how often you use your wraps, but according to our beeswax wraps maker, the ones we sell here at A Drop in the Ocean should last you 150+ washes! 

You’ll know when it’s time to let your wraps go gracefully when they start to feel more like a piece of fabric with a little bit of beeswax on it than a fully-coated, functional wax wrap.

How do you dispose of beeswax wraps?

Because they’re 100% plastic-free, beeswax wraps are actually backyard compostable! When they’ve run their course, just cut them into strips and toss them in your compost bin. 

Or, if you don’t have access to compost, you can use them as fire starters or as a grippy mat for your cutting boards!

So…are beeswax wraps worth it?

If you’re struggling to kick the habit of plastic saran wrap or Ziploc baggies, reusable beeswax wraps are ABSOLUTELY worth it - especially because they’re so dang versatile!

Let’s do some quick math:

According to National Geographic, 5.3 million Americans used 10 or more rolls of plastic wrap in 2018, and (although I can’t find the original source in a quick Google search) according to Recycle Nation, the average American family uses 500 Ziploc bags every year.

One roll of Glad-brand cling wrap from Target costs $4.49. Let’s cut the Nat Geo stat in half, just for funsies, and say that an average family uses about 5 of these rolls every year.

That’s $22.45 spent on plastic wrap each year.

And, one box of 150 Ziploc baggies from Target costs $5.99. 500 per year actually seems like a pretty reasonable number to me, especially for families with kids, so we’ll keep that and estimate that the average family spends about $20 on plastic baggies every year. 

So all-in-all, the average American family spends about $42 on plastic wrap and plastic baggies each year. 

Compare that to a pack of 3 reusable beeswax wraps at just $23 that will last you at least 150 washes [each], and I see no downside here.

Even if you only use disposable plastic wrap or plastic baggies on occasion, the wraps are still so totally worth it. It’s not like they go bad not being used regularly, so they’ll still replace the same amount of disposables over time.

So next time you’re running low on Ziploc baggies or saran wrap, why not give a set of beeswax wraps a try instead?

And if you have any other tips for how to use beeswax wraps that I’ve missed in this post, comment below and share them with me! I always love learning new, creative ways to use one product 🥰